Healthy Lifestyle in Children and Adolescents and Its Association with Subjective Health Complaints: Findings from 37 Countries and Regions from the HBSC Study

Adilson Marques, Yolanda Demetriou, Riki Tesler, Élvio R. Gouveia, Miguel Peralta and Margarida Gaspar de Matos
Additional contact information
Adilson Marques: Centro Interdisciplinar do Estudo da Performance Humana, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, 1499-002 Lisboa, Portugal
Yolanda Demetriou: Department of Sports and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 80333 Munich, Germany
Riki Tesler: Department of Health Systems Management, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel, riki.tesler@gmail.com
Élvio R. Gouveia: Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Madeira, 9000-082 Funchal, Portugal, erubiog@staff.uma.pt
Miguel Peralta: Centro Interdisciplinar do Estudo da Performance Humana, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, 1499-002 Lisboa, Portugal
Margarida Gaspar de Matos: Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 18, 1-14

Abstract: Background: It is important to clearly understand the factors associated with subjective health complaints. The study aimed to investigate the relationship between subjective health complaints, several health behaviors, and a composite measure of healthy lifestyle. Methods: Data were from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) 2014 international database. Participants were 167,021 children and adolescents, aged 10–16 years, from 37 countries and regions. A composite score of healthy lifestyle was created using a combination of daily physical activity, daily consumption of fruit and vegetables, <2 hours spent daily in screen-based behaviors, no drinking, and no smoking. The subjective health complaints assessed were headaches, stomach aches, backache, dizziness, feeling low, irritability, nervousness, and sleep difficulties. Results: Those who engage in physical activity every day, spend less than two hours a day in screen-based behaviors, do not drink alcohol, and do not smoke tobacco presented a higher likelihood of not having subjective health complaints. A healthy lifestyle was significantly related to having less of all the subjective health complaints. Those with a healthy lifestyle were 50% (OR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.5–0.6, p < 0.001) less likely to have multiple health complaints. Conclusions: Healthy behaviors and healthy lifestyles are related with less subjective health complaints and less multiple health complaints.

Keywords: school-aged children; health; behaviors; lifestyle; HBSC (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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